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Velouria
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Velouria
"Velouria" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies from their third studio album Bossanova (1990). Written and sung by the band's frontman Black Francis, the song was written as a love song rooted in Francis's experience with a girl associated with the Rosicrucians of Northern California. The lyrics also touched on Francis's interest in UFOs. Musically, the song features surf rock elements as well as a theremin part.
"Velouria" was released as the lead single from Bossanova on July 16, 1990, and became the band's first Top 40 hit in the United Kingdom. The release was accompanied by a music video, featuring a short clip of the band in a quarry slowed down to fit the song's length. "Velouria" has since seen critical acclaim and has appeared on several compilations.
Black Francis said of the lyrics to the song in an interview with SongFacts, "It's folklore based; the Rosicrucians of 1920s San Jose California had some pretty interesting ideas." The lyrics allude to the mythical lost continent of Lemuria and the Rosicrucians' belief that its survivors lived beneath Mount Shasta. Francis explained:
There are these people in California around San Jose, they call themselves Rosicrucians but they're not like the Rosicrucians of yesteryear. ... There's this lost continent of Lemuria, as in the lemurs from Madagascar sank in the pacific and all of the inhabitants took off and entered into that hollowed out mountain called Mount Shasta. ... And I had an experience there a few years ago with a girl that I met in those parts, who was one of these Lemurians. ... [It was named] "Velouria" because velour, she was kind of covered in fur. She was smooth and beautiful but it was like she was furry!
Producer Gil Norton claimed the song was also inspired by Francis's fascination with UFOs and extraterrestrials: "He was trying to write about space, a superhero-type person, and he had this material, velour, that he really liked the touch of, and that's where he got the 'Velouria' from, what she would wear."
The song has been labeled as punk rock and surf rock by critics. The song features extensive use of theremin, which the band brought in to excite Francis. Norton recalled, "We got a theremin player [Robert F. Brunner]. I found him in a musician's union book under 'theremin.' There were, like three of them in there."
"Velouria" was released as the lead single from Pixies' third album, Bossanova (1990), on July 16, 1990. Of the song's B-sides, "I've Been Waiting for You" is a Neil Young cover sung by Kim Deal, while "Make Believe" is a David Lovering-sung track written about Lovering's admitted "obsession" with US singer-songwriter Debbie Gibson. The single was a moderate alternative success, reaching number four on the American alternative charts as well as number 28 in the UK, making it the band's first top 40 UK single.
In addition to appearing on Bossanova, the song appears on the influential 1990 Madchester compilation album Happy Daze, as well as Pixies compilations Death to the Pixies and Wave of Mutilation: Best of Pixies.
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Velouria
"Velouria" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies from their third studio album Bossanova (1990). Written and sung by the band's frontman Black Francis, the song was written as a love song rooted in Francis's experience with a girl associated with the Rosicrucians of Northern California. The lyrics also touched on Francis's interest in UFOs. Musically, the song features surf rock elements as well as a theremin part.
"Velouria" was released as the lead single from Bossanova on July 16, 1990, and became the band's first Top 40 hit in the United Kingdom. The release was accompanied by a music video, featuring a short clip of the band in a quarry slowed down to fit the song's length. "Velouria" has since seen critical acclaim and has appeared on several compilations.
Black Francis said of the lyrics to the song in an interview with SongFacts, "It's folklore based; the Rosicrucians of 1920s San Jose California had some pretty interesting ideas." The lyrics allude to the mythical lost continent of Lemuria and the Rosicrucians' belief that its survivors lived beneath Mount Shasta. Francis explained:
There are these people in California around San Jose, they call themselves Rosicrucians but they're not like the Rosicrucians of yesteryear. ... There's this lost continent of Lemuria, as in the lemurs from Madagascar sank in the pacific and all of the inhabitants took off and entered into that hollowed out mountain called Mount Shasta. ... And I had an experience there a few years ago with a girl that I met in those parts, who was one of these Lemurians. ... [It was named] "Velouria" because velour, she was kind of covered in fur. She was smooth and beautiful but it was like she was furry!
Producer Gil Norton claimed the song was also inspired by Francis's fascination with UFOs and extraterrestrials: "He was trying to write about space, a superhero-type person, and he had this material, velour, that he really liked the touch of, and that's where he got the 'Velouria' from, what she would wear."
The song has been labeled as punk rock and surf rock by critics. The song features extensive use of theremin, which the band brought in to excite Francis. Norton recalled, "We got a theremin player [Robert F. Brunner]. I found him in a musician's union book under 'theremin.' There were, like three of them in there."
"Velouria" was released as the lead single from Pixies' third album, Bossanova (1990), on July 16, 1990. Of the song's B-sides, "I've Been Waiting for You" is a Neil Young cover sung by Kim Deal, while "Make Believe" is a David Lovering-sung track written about Lovering's admitted "obsession" with US singer-songwriter Debbie Gibson. The single was a moderate alternative success, reaching number four on the American alternative charts as well as number 28 in the UK, making it the band's first top 40 UK single.
In addition to appearing on Bossanova, the song appears on the influential 1990 Madchester compilation album Happy Daze, as well as Pixies compilations Death to the Pixies and Wave of Mutilation: Best of Pixies.